Chapter VI:
High School Assessments

Although the vast majority of Title I students are enrolled in the lower grades, changes in the school eligibility rules in 1994 mandated that school districts serve all schools over 75% poor.  This measure was intended, in part, to address the concern that relatively few high schools were receiving Title I funds.  As a result, according to the National Assessment of Title I, 93% of the highest poverty high schools and 29% of all high schools now receive Title I funding.

Yet, the Department’s review of state plans revealed that performance standards and assessments at the high school level (sometime between grades 10 through 12) frequently were incomplete and many states showed no prospect of finishing and implementing them this school year. These states included, for example: California (high school assessments); Colorado (high school performance standards; technical manual for high school assessment); Georgia (high school assessments); South Carolina (high school assessment); and Louisiana (no state-approved performance standards for 10^th grade).